Council agrees to re-install bin in Bury Park after area ‘plagued with rubbish’

A public bin is set to return to Bury Park after residents complained about the area “becoming plagued with rubbish”.

John Hadley, who lives in the neighbourhood, alerted the council to the issue after seeing waste being strewn across the roads. He said: “It's beyond the joke, the fact that we live in a country that's talking to us about climate all the time, and the environment, and our own council is refusing to put a public bin in to stop it

"This has led to my area becoming plagued with rubbish and due to the bi weekly collections and multiple HMOs (house of multiple occupancy) within my area, the residents were forced to use public bins as otherwise homes would become inundated with rubbish and would lead to infestations, which are already an infamous trait of this area.”

The council said it had been hesitant to re-install a communal bin after concerns it would be ‘taken advantage of’ – but has now relented.

In response to Mr Hadley’s complaints, a spokesperson for Luton Borough Council explained: “We apologise for the length of time it has taken to resolve this issue. We all want to see less rubbish on our streets and we know that Mr Hadley wants the same.

“We have been hesitant to re-install another communal bin in the area as the previous one was damaged and attracted even more rubbish in the area due to local shopkeepers taking advantage of it.

“However, following our most recent inspections in the area we have agreed to return the bin to the original location. We will be inspecting the bin periodically to ensure that shops in this location are not using it to dispose of their waste as this will result in the previous problems resurfacing. We will take enforcement action if we do find any evidence of this.

“Fortnightly bin collections were brought in across the town to encourage residents to waste less and recycle more. Handy tips and advice can be found at luton.gov.uk/lutonbins.

“We note the concerns about HMOs and we will review waste capacity for registered HMOs in the area to ensure adequate capacity.”